NHAI to build elevated highway over Aroor-Edappally bypass from early 2025

NHAI to construct six-lane elevated highway on Aroor-Edapally bypass corridor in Kerala, expected to decongest busy highway.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) would begin construction of a six-lane elevated highway that it mulled over the 16-km Aroor-Edapally bypass corridor, from early 2025.

A 13-km elevated highway is already being built on the Aroor-Thuravur NH 66 stretch. The proposed elevated highway on the Aroor-Edappally stretch is expected to decongest one of the busiest highway corridors in Kerala that caters for inter-State, inter-district and intra-city passenger and goods vehicles and would be completed in 36 months, it is learnt.

The elevated structure would be built on the basis of a detailed project report (DPR), which was readied over the span of a year and is expected to cost approximately ₹3,600 crore. An elevated corridor has been envisaged on the NH bypass, which has width ranging from four to six lanes, since acquiring land on the heavily built-up bypass would be cumbersome. Moreover, it caters for over one lakh passenger car units (PCUs) daily, and their number is expected to increase phenomenally when the Edappally-Varapuzha NH 66 stretch is widened to six lane and the Aroor-Thuravur NH 66 stretch gets a six-lane elevated highway, by the end of 2025, informed sources said.

However, minimal land acquisition might be needed to carve out service roads, especially on the northern side of Oberon Mall from where the elevated highway is expected to begin. The NHAI has already mooted a six-lane vehicle underpass around 600 metres south of Edappally Junction in order to streamline flow of vehicles and to make it a signal-free junction. The elevated highway would have a few ramps to link it with major junctions on the NH bypass beneath, while it would run largely parallel to the three flyovers on the bypass.

The NHAI had mooted another elevated structure — a trumpet flyover, at Netoor located south of Kundannoor Junction on the NH bypass. This is because two greenfield highways — the Kochi Bypass and the Kochi-Theni NH, apart from the Kochi-port connectivity highway — are expected to take off from Nettoor.